Efflouresence

My husband and I own a landscape company in virginia. We recently installed a $12500.00 NICOLOCK paver wall for a residential customer. Though they are "thrilled" with our workmanship, and all of their neighbors have called us for work to be done since the wall went up, they are refusing to pay the final $4500. balance due because of the efflouresence that has appeared on the pavers. We are at a loss. We have scrubbed the pavers, have had a NICOLOCK rep meet with the customer and nothing has been resolved. Any thoughts from any one would be greatly, greatly appreciated.

I would say that Nicolock needs to do something to make the problem right. Who was the rep that looked at it? Your job is to build a wall that will last. Nicolock's job is to make a product that will not degrade property values.

In terms of final payment. Did you perform the work as specified in the contract in a satisfactory manner? Did you do exactly as promised in the contract? If so, the client is legally obligated to pay you, presuming you have a VA Contractor's license. They are obligated to the contract because you fulfilled the contract. The contract should have stated the brand, the color, and the name of the wall material to be used. This establishes what's called in the legal world "meeting of the minds". In other words, they knew what they were getting, they accepted it, you did as promised.

I would call the manager at Nicolock and very politely, yet sternly ask that they supply a cleaner and that they come to the site and assist in cleaning their block. Explain that the homeowner is holding money because of an issue with their product.

See, I have a clause on the back of our contract that addresses efflouresence.

Also, did the client spec the materials, or did you introduce them to Nicolock??

Ya know, a few weeks ago I did lunch with reps from another manufacturer in MD. they were talking about how some of their product was defective. Not only did they replace the material......they also paid a contractor for their labor to take it up the bad, dump the bad into a roll off dumpster (supplied by the manufacturer) and lay new.....

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Last edited: Sep 29, 2009

"It's You vs. You"

"People Throw Rocks At Things That Shine"

My Equipment Brag List:

-1 CAT hat
-16 pairs of Hanes socks (the Heavy Duty model), many with holes.
-12 pairs of underwear, ranging from Joe Boxers to Jockey, many are in need of replacement. (no more photo requests please)
-hundreds of t-shirts. Some w/ grease stains, some torn & tattered.
-7 pairs of jeans, ranging from Levis to Polo to GAP. 1/2 of them have holes in 'em.
-1 belt
-1 pair of old worn out Nike shoes.

Sounds to me like the efflouresence is just an excuse to keep from paying.
It should not be that hard for them to understand that efflouresence is not a big deal and will go away in time.
It's time to call your lawyer.

Sounds to me like the efflouresence is just an excuse to keep from paying.
It should not be that hard for them to understand that efflouresence is not a big deal and will go away in time.
It's time to call your lawyer.

Click to expand...

Same thing went through my mind. I've been hearin quite a few stories this year about clients weaseling their way out of paying. A good efflouresence cleaner outta clean it up. What did you "scrub" it with?

Many manufacturers have a clause in their catalogs addressing efflouresence, not sure what Nicolock has in their catalogs.

I realize this doesn't help the problem now, but food for thought: We collect many draws for our work. On a 12,000 to 15,000 dollar job, I usually collect around 4 draws (including the final payment) at specified phases of the project, strategically dwindeling the balance down so that at the end the client would probably owe us around $1,500.00 - $2,000.00. This way, assuming you did a perfect job, and the client drums up some bogus excuse to hold money - the amount they try to hold is minimal. I'm not gonna subsidize someone's dream by not taking draws. We do good work. If there's a problem let's communicate and talk about. As long as a client is behaving level headed and reasonable - they're more or less going to get their way.

,

Last edited: Sep 29, 2009

"It's You vs. You"

"People Throw Rocks At Things That Shine"

My Equipment Brag List:

-1 CAT hat
-16 pairs of Hanes socks (the Heavy Duty model), many with holes.
-12 pairs of underwear, ranging from Joe Boxers to Jockey, many are in need of replacement. (no more photo requests please)
-hundreds of t-shirts. Some w/ grease stains, some torn & tattered.
-7 pairs of jeans, ranging from Levis to Polo to GAP. 1/2 of them have holes in 'em.
-1 belt
-1 pair of old worn out Nike shoes.

You should have educated the client pre-install letting them know about the probability that efflo will be present. Had this been done you would not be having this issue. The second issue is using Nicolock. They should man up on this

You should have educated the client pre-install letting them know about the probability that efflo will be present. Had this been done you would not be having this issue. The second issue is using Nicolock. They should man up on this

Click to expand...

Well Said, Chris.

"It's You vs. You"

"People Throw Rocks At Things That Shine"

My Equipment Brag List:

-1 CAT hat
-16 pairs of Hanes socks (the Heavy Duty model), many with holes.
-12 pairs of underwear, ranging from Joe Boxers to Jockey, many are in need of replacement. (no more photo requests please)
-hundreds of t-shirts. Some w/ grease stains, some torn & tattered.
-7 pairs of jeans, ranging from Levis to Polo to GAP. 1/2 of them have holes in 'em.
-1 belt
-1 pair of old worn out Nike shoes.

-1 CAT hat
-16 pairs of Hanes socks (the Heavy Duty model), many with holes.
-12 pairs of underwear, ranging from Joe Boxers to Jockey, many are in need of replacement. (no more photo requests please)
-hundreds of t-shirts. Some w/ grease stains, some torn & tattered.
-7 pairs of jeans, ranging from Levis to Polo to GAP. 1/2 of them have holes in 'em.
-1 belt
-1 pair of old worn out Nike shoes.